With the weather in Columbus, as well as across most of the country, being downright frigid, today is a good day to think of some warm thoughts. What better way to do that than by looking at a number of current and former Buckeyes who are hot right now.
With the NFL season wrapping up, one former Ohio State player is at the top of his position and a win away from a Super Bowl win. Three Buckeyes are heating up on the hardwood, two of which are still wearing the scarlet and gray.
Then there is an Ohio
Stater who is getting hot on the ice just as a few of her teammates are about to head to Italy for the Olympics.
John Mobley Jr.
The hottest Ohio State men’s basketball player of late has undoubtedly been John Mobley Jr. After scoring 25 points in Monday night’s 84-78 win over Penn State, the sophomore now has reached at least 20 points in each of the last four games, with the Buckeyes winning three of those four contests.
Most of the damage Mobley has been doing on the offensive end has come from behind the arc, nailing 20 three-pointers during that span. To start off his four-game heater, Mobley scored a career-high 28 points against UCLA.
Ohio State enters Saturday’s game at Wisconsin with a 14-6 record, going 6-4 in Big Ten play so far this season. The Buckeyes will need Mobley to continue shooting lights out if they want to make their first NCAA Tournament since 2022.
Unlike the last three seasons when they went a combined 8-17 in the month of January, Ohio State is putting themselves in a good position to make it to the Big Dance.
Mobley is currently second on the team, averaging 16.1 points per game this season, and is one of four Buckeyes averaging at least 10 points per game. The 3.1 three-pointers Mobley is making per contest this season currently ranks third in the Big Ten.
Only Pryce Sandfort of Nebraska and Lamar Wilkerson of Indiana are averaging more three-pointers per game in the conference.
Jaloni Cambridge
For the fourth time this season, Jaloni Cambridge earned a spot on the Big Ten’s Weekly Honor Roll. Cambridge started the week by tying a career-high with eight assists and scoring 18 points in the 71-69 win by the Buckeyes over ninth-ranked TCU in the Coretta King Classic last Monday.
Then Cambridge recorded 22 points in Thursday’s win over Indiana, followed by notching here first double-double in college with 26 points and 10 rebounds in Sunday’s loss at Iowa.
The sophomore leads Ohio State with 21.9 points per game this season, which also ranks third in the Big Ten. After losing Cotie McMahon to Ole Miss in the transfer portal during the offseason, Cambridge has taken over as the leader of the team.
Ahead of Thursday night’s game against Wisconsin, the Buckeyes are 18-3 on the season, with all three losses coming to teams that are currently ranked in the top-10. Ohio State is ranked 11th in this week’s AP Top 25 poll.
Jocelyn Amos
Ohio State’s women’s hockey team swept a pair of games against St. Thomas over the weekend in Columbus, pushing their record on the season to 23-3. Friday night saw the Buckeyes erase a 1-0 deficit in the third period, as Jocelyn Amos scored at the 7:38 mark.
Then in overtime, Amos scored 38 seconds into the extra frame to secure the win. Amos also added a goal in Ohio State’s 5-0 win on Saturday.
After tallying two goals in a win last week against Minnesota State, Amos now has five goals over her last four games. While the Ontario native only has 12 goals on the season after scoring 42 last year, she is finding her shot as the Buckeyes are approaching postseason play.
The Buckeyes are especially going to need Amos to be at the top of her game over the next month since the team is going to be missing Joy Dunne, Hilda Svensson, and Sanni Vanhanen, who will all be in Italy playing in the Olympics.
Brice Sensabaugh
One bright spot in another tough season for the Utah Jazz has been former Ohio State forward Brice Sensabaugh. The first round pick in 2023 has been scorching hot in January, scoring at least 20 points in half of the 12 games the Jazz have played.
Sensabaugh has been especially good of late, recording at least 20 points in four of the last five games. The only negative to come out of Sensabaugh’s recent stellar play is Utah has lost five straight games.
The best performance of the season for Sensabaugh came on January 14th when he scored 43 points at Chicago. Through 43 games this season, Sensabaugh is averaging 11.7 points per game, which is currently the highest mark of his three-year NBA career.
Currently Sensabaugh is fourth on the team in scoring despite only averaging 21 minutes per game. Since the Jazz aren’t making the playoffs this year, it will be interesting to see if Sensabaugh sees more playing time the rest of the season.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
Former Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba continues to establish himself in the best receiver in the NFL. On Sunday, Smith-Njigba hauled in 10 catches for 152 yards and a touchdown, as the Seattle Seahawks booked their spot in Super Bowl XL with a 31-27 win over the Los Angeles Rams.
Seattle will square off with the New England Patriots on Sunday February 8th in the final game of the NFL season.
Between the regular season and postseason, Smith-Njigba has caught 132 passes for 1,965 yards and 12 touchdowns. The former Buckeyes is also a finalist for AP Offensive Player of the Year, which will be awarded next Thursday at the NFL Honors show.
A win over New England would give Seattle their second Super Bowl title in franchise history, and if the Seahawks do beat the Patriots it’s likely Smith-Njigba will be in the mix to be named Super Bowl MVP.
